 Bowman's trademark "She's Apples" celebration after winning the 2017 Japan Cup aboard Cheval Grand | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1980-07-14)14 July 1980 (age 45) Dunedoo, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation | Jockey |
| Horse racing career | |
| Sport | Horse racing |
| Major racing wins | |
| Doomben Cup (2004) Cox Plate (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018) Queensland Oaks (2005, 2015) Epsom Handicap (2015, 2018) Chipping Norton Stakes (2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019) Doncaster Mile (2016) George Ryder Stakes (2005, 2010, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019) George Main Stakes (2012, 2016, 2017, 2018) Australian Oaks (ATC) (2009, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018) Hong Kong Derby (2016, 2019) Queen Elizabeth II Cup (2016) Turnbull Stakes (2015, 2017, 2018) Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2013, 2017, 2018, 2019) H E Tancred Stakes (The BMW) (2013, 2016, 2017) Hong Kong Gold Cup (2017) Japan Cup (2017) Hong Kong Champions & Chater Cup (2017, 2023) Winx Stakes (Warwick Stakes) (2016, 2017, 2018) Champagne Stakes (ATC) (2008, 2015, 2020) Sires' Produce Stakes (ATC) (2015, 2017, 2019, 2020) Golden Slipper (2020) | |
| Racing awards | |
| Longines World's Best Jockey (2017) NSW Metropolitan Jockey Premiership (2008/09, 2011/12, 2014/15, 2016/17) Alistair Haggis Silver Saddle (2007) | |
| Honours | |
| Australian Racing Hall of Fame (2019) | |
| Significant horses | |
| Winx,Cheval Grand, Werther,Samantha Miss,Exceed and Excel | |
| Updated on 9 April 2019 | |
James Hugh Bowman is an Australianthoroughbred racingjockey. Based inSydney,[1] Bowman has won the New South Wales Metropolitan Jockey Premiership four times (2008/09, 2011/12, 2014/15, 2016/17)[2] and has ridden 100Group 1 winners.[3][4] He was the jockey for Australian champion mareWinx from 2014 through to her retirement in 2019. In 2017, Bowman won the Longines World’s Best Jockey award presented by theInternational Federation of Horseracing Authorities.[5] The award capped off a year in which he added to his domestic success with international Group 1 wins inHong Kong andJapan. In 2019, he was inducted into theAustralian Racing Hall of Fame, the industry’s highest accolade.[6] Bowman is also renowned for his “She’s Apples” winning salute and his nickname of “the Undisputed Group 1 King”.[7]
James Hugh Bowman was born on 14 July 1980 inDunedoo, NSW.[8] His family spent time on three different properties when he was a child – Cairn Hill, Burrgoen, before his parents decided to return to the family farm, Merotherie, in 1993.[8] The same year, Bowman left to commence his secondary schooling, boarding atThe Scots College in Sydney’sEastern Suburbs.[8] Growing up on cattle and sheep properties, Bowman has stated that horses were always an integral part of the working farm and a connection with them was formed early in his life.[8] Bowman also comes from a lineage of horsemen. His grandfather, great uncle, father and uncle all rode asamateur jockeys.[8] Bowman himself was a member of the localpony club until he was 15, riding incountry shows and displaying natural horsemanship. He also grew up playingpolocrosse,campdrafting and riding inpicnic races.[8] Bowman recalls being 13 when he decided that he wanted to pursue a career as a professional jockey.[8] In 1997, he left school and secured anapprenticeship with trainer Leanne Aspros inBathurst, where he was also mentored by her husband, Billy Aspros,[9] who was 12-time champion jockey in theNSW Central Districts[10] and a Group 1 winner (Turridu, 1995George Main Stakes).[11][12]
On 3 April 1996, Bowman had his first official ride as an amateur jockey at the Mungery Picnic Races inNarromine, NSW aboard Go Campese.[7] Later that year on October 5, he rode his first winner atWellington, NSW when he guided Slatts to win the Wellington Picnic Cup.[7] By the end of his first apprentice season in 1998, Bowman was the champion apprentice jockey in the NSW Central Districts.[8] In 1999, Bowman moved to Sydney for the final two years of his apprenticeship under the tutelage of jockey-turned-trainer Ron Quinton, who also hailed from Dunedoo.[8][13] He was crowned champion apprentice in Sydney for the 1999/2000 season.[8] In the spring of 2001, Bowman won his maidengroup race when he rode Sportsbrat to victory in the Group 3Missile Stakes atRosehill Gardens. His first Group 1 win came on Defier in the 2004Doomben Cup inBrisbane.[7] The following year, Bowman finished runner-up toDarren Beadman in the 2004/05 NSW Metropolitan Jockey Premiership (colloquially known as the Sydney Jockeys Premiership), the highest award forNSW-based jockeys. He then claimed his first premiership in the 2008/09 season riding 98 winners from 482 starts at a strike rate of 20.3%. Bowman has since won three more titles in 2011/12, 2014/15 and 2016/17.[2] As his career entered the 2010s, Bowman developed a strong association with trainerChris Waller. He would go on to ride many feature race victories on Waller's horses, most notably Winx.[14] During his career, Bowman has ridden:
On 5 March 2022, Bowman rode his 100th Group One winner when guiding Forbidden Love to win theCanterbury Stakes at Randwick.
Winx had five different jockeys across her first 11 starts in 2014 and 2015, including Bowman. His involvement with Winx began during the Sydney Spring Racing Carnival in 2014. Bowman’s first ride on Winx came at her third career start, on 6 September, in the Group 2Furious Stakes atRoyal Randwick. Winx won the race, making it 3 wins from 3 starts, while also registering her first feature race success. Two starts later, on 4 October, Bowman would ride Winx to a second-place finish in the Group 1Flight Stakes at Royal Randwick behind First Seal.[22][23]
Bowman did not ride Winx again until her twelfth career start during the Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival – a victory in the Group 1Queensland Oaks atDoomben Racecourse on 30 May. This was Winx's first Group 1 success and the second triumph in what was to become her 33 consecutive race winning streak. Two starts later, after a 15-weekspell and a return win in the Group 2Theo Marks Stakes at Rosehill Gardens, Bowman was back aboard Winx steering the mare to victory in the Group 1Epsom Handicap at Royal Randwick on 3 October. From this race on, Bowman became the permanent jockey for Winx. He would have one more ride on the mare in 2015 when he travelled toMoonee Valley, Melbourne to ride her in the $3 million-dollar Group 1W. S. Cox Plate – theweight-for-age championship of Australia. Starting as the $4.60 favourite, Winx and Bowman went on to win the race by 4&¾ lengths from Criterion and Irish galloperHighland Reel. The race was won in a record time of 2:02.98.[22][23]
Bowman guided Winx to victory in her return to racing on 13 February in the Group 2Apollo Stakes at Royal Randwick. He would then pilot Winx to three consecutive Group 1 wins over the course of theSydney Autumn Racing Carnival – theChipping Norton Stakes,George Ryder Stakes and the $3 million-dollarDoncaster Mile. After a 20-week spell, Winx returned in the spring on 20 August, with Bowman steering her to victory in the Group 2Warwick Stakes at Royal Randwick. Then one month later, just as in the autumn, Bowman would ride Winx to three consecutive Group 1 victories over the course of five weeks. Wins in the George Main Stakes andCaulfield Stakes culminated in Winx and Bowman winning their second W. S. Cox Plate in a row. The race was won by a record margin of 8 lengths. Bowman became only the tenth jockey to win the race back-to-back, while Winx became the tenth horse in history to win two successiveCox Plates.[22][23]
Bowman and Winx started off their 2017 autumn campaign in the exact same fashion as 2016 with a win in the Apollo Stakes at Royal Randwick on 13 February. Wins in the Chipping Norton Stakes at Randwick and George Ryder Stakes at Rosehill followed on 25 February and 18 March respectively. While Winx and Bowman’s lead-up had been identical to the autumn of 2016, their end goal had shifted to the $4 million-dollar Group 1Queen Elizabeth Stakes. The race is the premier weight-for-age race of the Sydney Autumn Carnival and the showpiece event ofThe Championships – a two-day race meeting comprising the most lucrative races of the carnival, attracting horses from around the globe. Starting as the $1.12 short-priced favourite, Bowman guided Winx to a 5-length victory ahead ofHartnell and Sense of Occasion.[22][23]
The duo returned in the spring registering three wins in Sydney at Royal Randwick – in the Warwick Stakes,Chelmsford Stakes and George Main Stakes – before heading to Melbourne to attempt to win a third consecutive W. S. Cox Plate. On 7 October Bowman and Winx won the Group 1Turnbull Stakes in her first career start atFlemington Racecourse. Three weeks later, on 28 October, Bowman piloted Winx to her third W. S. Cox Plate win, breaking her previous race record set in 2015 with 2:02.94. Winx became only the second horse in history to win three straight Cox Plates afterKingston Town did it in 1980, ‘81 and ’82. Likewise, Bowman was also only the second jockey to win three successive Cox Plates afterBrent Thomson managed the feat from 1977-79 on three separate thoroughbreds –Family of Man (’77), So Called (’78) andDulcify (’79).[22][23]
Winx would only race three times in the Sydney Autumn Carnival of 2018, all at Group 1 level. Bowman would ride her to success in her third consecutive Chipping Norton and George Ryder Stakes before she once again won the Queen Elizabeth Stakes for a second straight year. Winx and Bowman returned in the spring on 18 August when they won the newly named and upgraded Group 1Winx Stakes – formerly the Group 2 Warwick Stakes, renamed in the mare’s honour. Winx became only the second horse in Australian racing history to win a race named in its honour afterBlack Caviar won theBlack Caviar Lightning Stakes in 2013. Victories followed in the George Main Stakes and Turnbull Stakes, before Bowman and Winx won their fourth consecutive W. S. Cox Plate together on 27 October. The duo were the first respective horse and jockey to win four successive Cox Plates.[22][23]
Winx and Bowman returned to racing, in what would be the mare’s final campaign, on 16 February with victory in the Apollo Stakes at Royal Randwick. Fourth successive Chipping Norton and George Ryder Stakes wins followed on 2 and 23 March respectively. In their final race together, Bowman and Winx won their third consecutive Queen Elizabeth Stakes. Winx was officially retired after the race. Bowman and Winx’s partnership had produced 29 straight victories and 32 wins and 1 second placing from 33 starts together.[24]
Bowman’s first international feature race success came in July 2007 when he won the Group 2Superlative Stakes aboard Hatta Fort atNewmarket Racecourse inNewmarket,England.[25] Bowman was in England as part of a three-month riding stint with trainerMick Channon who was based atWest Ilsley inBerkshire.[7] In August, Bowman, as part of the“Rest of the World” team, won theShergar Cup atAscot Racecourse – a four-team competition where three jockeys represent their region with the winning team determined by their overall performance across six races.[7] The four teams represented wereGreat Britain,Ireland,Europe and Rest of the World. In addition to winning the Shergar Cup, Bowman also received the Alistair Haggis Silver Saddle, the award given to the individual jockey who has accrued the most points in the competition.[26]
Bowman’s most successful year of international racing came in 2017. After securing his first two international Group 1 wins in 2016 aboard Werther in both theHong Kong Derby (HK) andQueen Elizabeth II Cup (HK), Bowman would go on to win another four Group 1’s in 2017. Two of these victories were again on Werther in theHong Kong Gold Cup (HK) and theHong Kong Champions & Chater Cup (HK). Bowman won another Group 1 in Hong Kong when he rode Lucky Bubbles to success in theChairman’s Sprint Prize (HK). His fourth win of the year came when he guided Cheval Grand to win the US$5.8 million-dollar Japan Cup (JP), thecountry’s most prominent race.[3] As a result, Bowman won the 2017 Longines World’s Best Jockey award presented by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) – the highest achievement for professional jockeys globally. The scoring for the award is based upon performances in the 100-highest rated Group 1 races internationally for that year, as established by theLongines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings Committee. Jockey’s accrue 12 points for first, 6 points for second and 4 points for third. Bowman’s four international Group 1’s, combined with Winx’s six Australian Group 1’s that year, provided 10 wins, along with 3 second placings and 1 third placing, giving him a total of 142 points.Ryan Moore andFrankie Dettori finished second and third with 124 and 86 points respectively. Moore notched 5 wins and Dettori finished with 6.[27]
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Bowman is married to Christine (née Walsh) and they have two daughters.[8] Christine Bowman is an Irish national who met Hugh when she moved to Sydney after spending the Australian spring of 2002 tending to Irish trainerDermott Weld’s twoMelbourne Cup horses –Vinnie Roe and, eventual winner,Media Puzzle.[29][30] She is a former trackwork rider and on-course producer forTVN's Sydney race meetings.[7] The family currently reside inCoogee in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs.[8]
Bowman is named after his great uncle, James Hugh Bowman.[15] He was aprivate in theAustralian Army (Unit: 1 CompanyAustralian Army Service Corps) inWorld War II who was killed in action on 12 February 1942 inMalaya.[31]